Smokeless furnace



(No Model.)

H. A. WHEELER.

2 Sheets- Sheet i.

SMOKELESS FURNACE.

No. 579,910.v

Wlesses MMM/@WMU Patented Ma.1'.`30. 1897.

me Norms levens col Puma-umn, wAsmNamN, n c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. A. WHEELER. sMoKBLEss FURNAGB.

No. 579,910. Patented Mar. 30, 1897. i

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UNITED STATES PATENT QEETCE.

HERBERT ALLEN WHEELER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SMOKELESS FU RNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,910, dated March30, 1897'.

Application filed March 9, 1896. Serial No. 582,512. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT ALLEN WHEELER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,have invented new and useful Improvements in Smokeless Furnaces, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the fireboxes or furnaces ofboilers, kilns, roasting, calcining, and heating furnaces and otherdevices Where the production of heat Without smoke is desired with amaximum economy of fuel, with a uniform maintenance of heat, anavoidance of the waste of fuel that arises in cleaning lires when usinggrate-bars, and a minimum cost in the erection and maintenance of thefurnace; and with these objects in view my invention consists of thenovel devices and combinations hereinafter described and specificallyclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, on two plates, Figure l is a longitudinalsection through the fireplace and boiler. Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe fireplace, and Fig. 3 is a plan of the fireplace with the top platem removed to better show the construction.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in all the drawings.

Of the various applications that may be made of this very economical,inexpensive, smokeless furnace I have shown it applied to asteam-boilerA for making steam, as this is the field in which there isthe greatest demand for a smokeless, inexpensive, durable furnace,especially to overcome the smoke nuisance in large cities, but I donotlimit the furnace to this field, as there are many other applicationsWhere these features are very valuable and desirable, as in kilns forlime, cement, and claywares, roasting, calcining, and heating furnaces,or for any purpose where the most economical -production of heat isdesired with the avoidance of smoke and a minimum cost of erection andrepair of the furnace.

The design herein described is to overcome the objections to theperishable fire-pots and other ironwork shown in my application forpatent for a Smokeless Economizer Furnace, Serial No. 574,529, filedJanuary 6, 1896, by substituting tire-brick, which Will cost less toerect, be very much more durable in withstanding heat, and will not besubject to the warping and cracking of the exposed ironwork thereinshown and described, while it has the same advantages of economy in fueland smokeless character of the fire of my prior device.

The boiler A is hung by lugs C on the side Walls Bin the usual manner,while the uptake E and stack F are of the usual pattern common inboilers.

Instead of usually carrying the tire or grate bars as in currentpractice, I prefer when the fuel permits to employ adead or solid bottomZ, of fire-brick, that sets on a sand cushion lo. The fuel is fedthrough the iiring-hole c into a fore chamber w and spreads out on thesolid bottom Z to the base of the fire-bridge G and into the ash-pitarchway c. The fore chamber w is kept filled with fuel to at or aboutthe firing-hole c. Air is supplied for carrying on the combustion at thebase of the fore chamber w through the ash-pit arch e,

which extends acrossthe fireplace and through the firing-hole c. Acurtain-wall b, that is carried by an arch g, of fire-brick or othersuitable material, separates the fore chamber w, into which the fuel isfed, from the combustion-chamber c, which latter is formed by thecurtain-wall b, the fire-bridge G, and the two side Walls B. Thefire-bridge G is backed by earth filling H in the usual manner, whichlatter' is sloped back to the rear of the boiler, as shown.

The fore chamber w is formed by the curtain-Wall b, the front Wall offire-brick d, and the corbelled fire-brick walls h, that drop back tothe special side walls c' of the fore furnace. By corbelling these sideWalls t' the firing-hole c is contracted to a size suitable for feedingthe fuel and cleaning the walls of clinkers without admitting too muchair if it was too large, While they conform in outline to the slope thatthe fuel takes in falling when fed into the fire-hole c.

The front wall d has the ash-pit arch fat its base for the admission ofair, the removal of clinkers, and the cleaning of the fire through thedoorway or opening e, which is covered by a swinging door q, that ishung on hinges r, that are suspended from a front plate n, of

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cast-iron or other suitable material, that is held in place byanchor-bolts s.

The top of the fore furnace is protected by a lnetal plate m, ofcast-iron or othersuitable material, that is held in place by theanehorbolts t and which has the firing-hole c. The firing-hole c iscovered by fireclay tiles p or by a hinged door or other suitabledevice.

The curtain-wall b is protected and supported by the front plate o, ofcast-iron or other suitable material, that is anchored by theanchor-bolts c. Special back staves and tierods D support the arch g,that carries the curtain-wall b.

The side walls B are held together by the back staves and tie-rods D inthe usual manner.

The operation of the furnace or fire-boxv consists in lling the forechamber zu with coal or other fuel, after lighting in the usual manner,up to or about the firingdiole c and leaving the aslrpit door q and thefiring door or hole e open. rlhe fuel spreads out in a conical pile fromthe front wall d to the firebridge G and into the asli-pit c. The airenters through e, as the door q is kept open, and in passing through themass of fuel in the lower portion of the fore chamber fw crcates auintense heat in front of the arch f, which so softens the ashes of thefuel into a clinker that it slowly runs as a pasty mass out into theash-pit c, where from time t0 time it is removed. As the air passesthrough the thick bed of fuel it first oxidizes the latter into carbonieacid, (002,) butthis is converted into the imperfeetly-burned conditionof earbonic oxid (CO) as. it passes farther into the incandescent fuel,and loss of fuel would result if it did not meet with an excess ofoxygen that enters with the air as a downdraft through the fire-hole C,for an excess of air enters through the firing-hole c through the upperpart of the fore chamber, and as the bed of fuel is thin Ithrough whichit passes to reach the arch g at the base of the curtainwall onlyaportion of its oxygen is consumed; but it is raised to a hightemperature, so that in entering the combuStien-chamber a the conditionsof time, space, and temperature are favorable for it to perfectly burnlthe carbonie oxid, hydrocarbons that are distilled from the fresh fuel,and other combustible gases, for the large space, highly-heatedsurrounding walls of fire-brick, and time allowed for mixing and burningin the combustionehamber a result in a high heat, perfect combustion,andthe avoidance of smoke. The lower portion of the fore chamber w thuslargely performs the function of a gas-producer in making carbonio oxid,while the upper portiomwith its restricting-eurtain L, performs thefunction of a downdraft rcheatingfurnace for preheating the air beforeit enters the combustion-cham ber a. If the fuel in the upper portion ofw is kept too deep, it will become more of a gas-producer than a preheater, Vand insufficient air will enter to insure perfect combustion,while iff the depth of fuel is kept too thin it will not sufficientlyheat the air to insure perfect combustion in a.

The design of the furnace enables, with moderate experience, themaintenance of the proper depth of fuel in the upper portion of n: abovethe arch t, according to the size and kind of fuel, to secure perfectcombustion.

The fuel is added frequently and in small a1nounts,which prevents theadmission of cold air if the fuel-level is kept above the crown of thearch g, and this insures uniformity of temperature, which is sodesirable for boil ers, kilns, and heating-furnaces, as it prolongs thelife of the furnace and boiler and adds greatly to the quality of theware in burning clay goods.

The longperiod required for the fuel to pass from e to c gives it timeto be completely burned, so that only elinkers, slag, and ashes fall outat e, which are removed from time to time, and the more frequently theyare re moved the higher the heat will be, while it avoids the waste offuel that occurs when cleaning grate-bars of clinkers, when more or lessunburned fuel is always hauled out with the clinkers in the usualpractice. The fore chamber w projects sufficiently in front of theboiler to enable the front wall (Z and curtain-wall Z) to be cleaned ofadhering elinkers with a sharp bar through the firing-hole c, while theclinkers that adhere to the bottom and sides of the furnace are removedthrough the ash-pit doorway e.

The absence of ironwork that is exposed to a high heat and thesimplicity of the construction of the furnace result in a low cost oferection and maintenance.

The ash-pit door q may be hung on overhead or side hinges or hung onrollers or operated by sliding doors or any other convenient way.

The ash-pit doorway e may be made as a simple large arch that spans theentire width of the furnace or it may be subdivided int-o two or moresmaller spans.

The firing-door c may be made of onelargc central opening or it may besubdivided into two or more smaller openings. It may be covered withfire-clay tiles or hinged doors, rolling doors, sliding covers, or byany other convenient way or any other suitable material.

The front wall d, curtain-wall l), special side walls i, corbelled walls7L, lire-bridge G, and bottom Z may be made of fire-b1.ick,stup,ganister, or any suitable refractorymaterial.

\Vhen the fuel is slack, sawdust, or other material that will not admitsufficient air, or where for any reason it is preferable to usegrate-bars instead of firing on a dead bottom, then grate-bars QJ,carried on bearing-bars j/j, as shown in Fig. l, are employed. rlhc higheconomy in fuel, the perfect combustion, and the avoidance of smoke arestill prevented when using grate-bars, but the cost of erection andrepairs is greater than when using a solid or dead bottom.

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What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. Af urnace comprising the solid front wall d, the ash-pit arch flocated in the front wall, the solid curtain-wall b, the arch g locatedvin the curtain-wall, the downdraft ring-hole c,

c and fore chamber lw, located between the front Wall and thecurtain-wall, the corbelled Walls h, the fire-bridge G, thecombustion-chamber located between the curtain-wall and the ire-Abridge, and the fuel-bottom Z extending beneath the curtain-wall, theliving-hole and the combustion-chamber, substantially as described.

2. A furnace comprising the solid front wall d, the ash-pit arch f,located in the front wall, the solid curtain-wall b, the arch g locatedin the curtain-wall, the downdraft firing-hole c, and fore chamber wlocated between the front wall and the curtain-wall, the corbelled wallsh, the fire-bridge G, the combustion-chamber located between thecurtain-wall and the firebridge, and the fuel-bottom Z extending beneaththe front Wall, the curtain-wall, the firing-hole and thecombustion-chamber7 substantially as described.

HERBERT ALLEN WHEELER. Witnesses: C. S. ROGERS,

H. A. DANFORTH.

